Morrisons - Not honouring dates on deals - legal?

keith99_2

It has been argued that it could be down to the stock situation. I am sorry but if you advertise an offer end date, then take it off before that date and then sell it at the normal price, how the hell is it a stock problem? If it was you wouldnt have any to sell.

scubaangel

If people are buying more of the item than normal because of the offer, then keeping the offer on will usually end up with a lack of stock. But its not just about the stock held in store but the stock held by the wholesalers/warehouses, and the pricing of that stock. If a store was selling things at 2 for the price of 1 its usually because the manufacturer/wholesaler have negotiated the offer with a specific retailer. So the retailer will order say double their usual stock at the offer price, expecting it to sell by x date, and put that date on the offer, it sells quicker so the offer ends quicker. Or the wholesaler pulls the offer earlier than expected - again because they are running out of stock, so the end result is that the offer ends on y date before expected. If they carried on selling at the offer price to the consumers the store would potentially lose a lot of money, these days I suspect no retailer is willing to make a consistant loss on products.
I completely agree though they shouldnt put dates on offers if they cant be certain it will last so long, much better to just put while stocks last on the ads.

spaceman5

all offers are subject to change, all supermarkets do it, infact all retail outlets pull offers at a minutes notice, as regards to dates on the pos, i dont know if it is some legal obligation to have this on, as again every supermarkets promotional pos has a end date on it, and i dont think they put them on there just for the fun of it, Dave

malc_b

They put the date on because it encourages you to return. You see offers without dates and with while stocks last so there is no legal requirement to put a date on, how could there be.

Before the 2008 act then in theory they could offer what they like, Milk for 1p/pint say, then at the tills charge you £1/pint. An offer is just an invitation the sale is not made until you pay so no law was broken. However the 2008 act, quite rightly, says such fraudulent offers are now prohibited. So having made an offer with a date they need a good reason to withdraw it. No stock is acceptable. Losing too much profit is not. If losing too much profit were allowed as an argument then the act would be pointless. Shops could make any ridiculous offer to get you in the store and then plead too little profit in order not to honour it.

spaceman5

malc_b wrote: »

They put the date on because it encourages you to return. You see offers without dates and with while stocks last so there is no legal requirement to put a date on, how could there be.

as a general rule of thumb, normally the promotions that you see with "while stocks last" on them, is stuff the stores don`t normally stock, i,e buers buy in x amount, and once that amount is gone, no more stock can go to stores, generally the offers you see without dates on are what are termed as long life offers, i,e things that stay on offer for a long period of time, like the own drinks for example, 45p or 2 for 80p, i don`t know why they put the dates on the pos, there must be some reason to do it, and not just to trick customers into coming into stores later, and the way you are talking you would think every offer gets pulled early, which is simply not the case, it happens yes, but not on a daily/weekly basis, i am not trying to defend them, but it does not make sense for them to purposefully try to trick customers into store for an offer, that they then pull, as in todays world, customers are not loyal like they used to be years ago, there is so much competition they know they can go elsewhere quite easily, where as years ago you used to have one supermarket in a 10 mile radius to make it harder for you to go elsewhere, now you have 4 in 100 yards so you get more choice hence no loyalty, Dave

bunking_off

malc_b wrote: »

I would argue that putting a date on an offer is an attempt to induce the consumer to return later, rather than shopping some where else, otherwise why put a date on? Hence making offers and not honouring them is unfair trading and breaks this act. IMO.

Actually, the effect is slightly different. When I'm in Morrisons and see a deal of interest that expires e.g. 10th Feb, my inclination (unless I need the product immediately) is to leave it until a future visit and keep the cash in my pocket rather than their's. I take a risk that it'll go out of stock, but having the end date is informative because it tells me when the offer will be withdrawn as a matter of course.

Contrast this with other supermarkets that don't put the end date, and you can't be sure you're not visiting on the last day of the offer so have to purchase straight away just in case. Personally, whatever the legalities I think the Morrisons' approach is far more customer friendly.

malc_b

I find the effect of the offer with a date is to buy then and return next week to buy some more rather than going to another supermarket (and seeing what offers they have). Visiting a supermarket takes time and petrol and they are not usually next door to each other. Hence I commonly just visit one per say week.

I would agree I have only caught Morrison's doing this twice but I don't check all the offers so perhaps it is more. In case, they made the offer, there is stock on the shelves, why should they not honour the offer? The 2008 Act prohibits sharp practices which is what this is, however small or large the scale of the breach.

Rick38

There are many reasons for 'offer ends' dates to be displayed on special offer advertising. The dates inform staff when the offer is on to, and any old advertising can be quickly removed if overlooked. Also, the majority of supermarkets, if not all, have promotional 'cycles' which normally last between 2 and 4 weeks. If you look carefully, most dates will match up throughout the store, although in my workplace the promo cycle can vary slightly between departments and the main grocery is split into 2 cycles, (a half change every fortnight).
As far as I am aware, the date is really for store use. As a department manager, I can look at the date on a piece of advertising and use it to judge what stock I need to order as i do not want any excess stock left gathering dust in the warehouse after the deal has ended.
Occasionally the deal is 'pulled' early, usually due to supplier issues, ie they have a raw material problem or a production problem. It mostly happens with fresh products as they are made and sent out a day or so before they hit the shelves, unlike packaged grocery which can be stockpiled before going on offer.
I doubt very much that any 'underhand' practices are being used by any supermarkets with regards to offers being ended before the advertised date, it's just not good customer practice.

keith99_2

Rick38 wrote: »

As far as I am aware, the date is really for store use.

I understood that was the main reason for it, and some months back i think someone confirmed this in another thread.
It is very small and sometimes hard to see on some SEL's. If it was meant for customers i am sure it would be displayed much bigger and easier to see.

malc_b

On Morrison's offers it is displayed large and it also says "offer ends 15th June". If it was just aimed at staff then you would just put 15th June, or even 15/06 or 0615 if you wanted to be really secretive. The staff would know what this date or number meant just as well and you would not be pushing that information at the customer.

And let's remind ourselves that the product is still on the shelf at this time. There are no supply issues. And there are no issues with having stock left as these are items always on the shelves. The only reason for pulling the offer has to be profit and I'm sorry but if you make the offer I expect you to honour it if you have stock. I've changed my shopping patterns because of the offer which is what the 2008 act recognises and the reason it prohibits this.